"He doesn't know ball" - NBA fans react to Stephen A. Smith justifying Nikola Jokic's ranking outside all-time top-5 

Nikola Jokic is widely considered to be one of the top players currently in the league. The three-time NBA MVP led the Denver Nuggets to their first and only title two seasons ago and is regularly mentioned among the best in the game at the moment.

However, not everyone shares this opinion. Among Jokic's doubters is the popular ESPN analyst, Stephen A. Smith, who was on Tuesday's episode of the "Full Send Podcast", shared his thoughts on the Serbian star.

“[Jokic] can't jump onto a curb, and when we look at basketball players, the first word that comes to our mouth is athleticism.”

As a result, fans couldn't help but defend Jokic. One user on X claimed Stephen A. Smith's reason for downgrading the Serbian star was because he doesn't know much about the game.

Because he doesn’t know ball. That’s the real answer

Others suggested athleticism isn't the main focus of the game.

Is the point of the game to jump higher or throw the ball into the damn basket?

Nikola looks very athletic bro😭

It’s because he doesn’t even care about basketball lol

People who don’t consider Jokic a top 5 player just clearly don’t watch basketball. Period.

In his 10 seasons with the Nuggets, Jokic has averaged 21.1 points, 10.8 assists, and 7.0 assists per game. Additionally, he is a six-time All-Star with one Finals MVP to his impressive resume.

Nikola Jokic tops NBA's updated MVP ladder

For the second week, Jokic has remained at the top of the NBA MVP rankings per NBA.com. The list also contains Boston Celtics' Jayson Tatum in second place, and followed by Los Angeles Lakers' Anthony Davis.

Jokic has displayed his usual consistency, averaging 29.7 points, 13.7 rebounds, and 11.7 assists per game for the Nuggets so far this year. Denver, however, finds itself as the current fifth seed in the hotly contested Western Conference.

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